Grotte de Pair-non-Pair

Hollowed out of a small limestone hill above the Moron valley, less than three kilometres from the Dordogne, the Grotte de Pair-non-Pair is the only known decorated cave in the Gironde department. It was discovered by chance in 1881 by François Daleau, a self-taught scholar, and listed as a historic monument as early as 1900.

Its walls bear engravings of horses, ibex, mammoths and bovids, attributed to the Aurignacian culture and dated to more than 32,000 years ago. The third decorated cave to be discovered, after Altamira and the Grotte Chabot, it played an important part in the official recognition of prehistoric cave art. Its name is thought to come from an old place name, "Penot père", which became "Penotpair" on 18th-century maps.

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